Various ice gripping, sandal-like, attachments for footwear are commercially available and have been disclosed in the patent literature. Examples of such patented devices are found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 1,032,600 (Grout); 2,361,972 (Smith); 3,214,850 (McNair); 3,516,181 (Jordan); 4,344,238 (Peyser); 4,353,172 (Bryant); 4,525,939 (McNeil et al.); and 4,910,883 (Zock, Jr.). While the devices disclose in those patents appear generally suitable for their intended purposes, they never the less appear to leave something to be desired from various standpoints, such as simplicity of construction, ease of mounting, removing, and adjusting.
Various sandals with means for enabling the adjustment of their mounting straps have been disclosed in the patent literature, such as the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: Des. 131,318 (Levin); 2,801,478 (Gilbert); 4,817,302 (Saltsman); 4,869,000 (York); and 4,920,664 (McGregor et al.). However, none of these sandals discloses a strapping arrangement which could be used with an ice gripping sole to obviate the disadvantages of the prior art ice gripping sandals. Moreover none of these sandals include means to assist in retaining the heel portion of the primary footwear on the sandal or means to assist in removing the sandal from the footwear.